Centennial Olympic Park

I have some wonderful friends here in Georgia! We all went down to the Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta to play in the water fountains (it's like newgate in SLC). Kalin, Porter and I spent our time standing in the middle of a circle of fountains around us, clinging and crying. Beth was able to get some cute pictures of the kids.

Just before leaving. Kalin with a Jonas and Thomas.


Porter trying not to get wet with mommy pushing him to get out!


Kalin, afraid to get wet as well, biting her finger


Trying to convince the kids to get wet...no success!



Eating lunch on the grass with all our beach towels


I'm going to steal Beths descriptions of Porter...

Porter working on his juicebox [that he stole from someone else]


Aahhh....success!
The funnest slide ever!

At least I thought so!Kalin and Jerem chasing birds, the kids had a lot of fun feeding and chasing them

Keeping Busy At Home

Porter, Porter, Porter...
He really is ALL boy! He is super busy and gets into everything. This first picture he is eating pudding, I think most of it ended up on him instead of in him! He looks like this after almost every meal! We took the picture to catch him flexing his muscles. We love it when he does that, his whole body shakes.
Porter loves to play with the broom, he seems to be able to find one wherever we go and its a nightmare to get them away from him. One day I thought I saw him go into the laundry room to get the broom and I went to look for him. He wasn't in there. Kalin came out of the laundry room so I asked her where Porter was and she said he was in there. I looked and he wasn't there. Okay, what are you smokin Kalin? I asked again and she said in there pointing to the dryer, so I opened it and there he was just sitting inside the dryer! That was a first!


A couple weeks ago we bought Kalin and Porter a little T-ball set. They (we) were so excited to play. It was fun showing them how to hold the bat and to watch the ball. After Alan swung he said "oh, I missed!" Yup, he did and I got it on camera! Love you Alan!

Atlanta Zoo

When Kim was here we all went to the zoo. Kalin seemed to have a great time seeing all of the animals. She said that her favorite was the giraffe.


Doesn't she make a cute Lion?
Playing "see if you can catch me" at the zoo with Porter! We only let him out of the stroller a couple times because he just takes off running like a wild child!


The petting zoo was great! The animals just laid there and didn't even move when you touched them. So tame! Maybe drugged? Kalin loved brushing the hair.
Cheers to the PANDA!

I thought I'd grown out of the panda stage, but when I turned the corner and the pandas were in sight my heart jumped out of my chest and I felt perhaps a little giddy! :) Oh, I still love the panda bear! It is a beautiful creature with gentle playfulness which to me creates a childlike charm.

Just a little panda humor by Donna Word Chapell:

A big old pudgy panda bear walked into McDonald's one day.
Ordered a Big Mac, fries and a Coke, and ate it all right away.
He paid his bill at the counter, then with a great big grin
He pulled out a big water pistol and shot the cashier in the chin.
He sauntered out to the sidewalk; the cashier followed him there.
Drying his face he said, "Why'd you do that? It wasn't really fair."
"In the encyclopedia, friend, the answer can be found."
The panda said, and then he left, saying, "Well, I'll see ya around."
The cashier looked it up that night. What he saw he couldn't believe.
The encyclopedia said, "Panda -- eats shoots and leaves."

Carnival and Circus

In April we got to spend a couple weeks with Aunt Kim. She is so fun and makes us laugh! Cousin Taryn stayed a couple nights when Kim was here. She was going home to South Africa after being a nanny in Atlanta for almost two years. I am so very very happy that we were able to spend time with Taryn and get to know her while she was here. It was hard taking her to the airport not knowing when we'll see her again. Same with Kim! I miss them both!! They are just gorgeous and ridiculously fun!

Sorry girls - these were the only pictures I took of you. I'm terrible and should have taken more. Gotta love the face kim!


While they were with us we decided last minute to go to the circus one night. We were quite surprised how fun it was.


Suckers, Cotton candy, funnel cake - just some of the yummy stuff Kalin and Jonas got to eat. We also tried some boiled peanuts for the first time. Its a southern thing and Ive heard that they are so scrumptious! Beth bought them for us and unfortunately I did not like them. Beth with Jonas below

Kalin and Mommy!

After we left the circus we decided to let the kids try a ride. They had to go by themselves and Beth and I were freakin out! Well, not quite to that extent, I exaggerate just a little. We were real nervous and thought they for sure would be screaming to get out. To our surprise and delight they were thrilled and laughing! Oh, how fun it was to watch my child just so content and happy. I could have stayed there all night long!!!

Snow Day!!! Or is it Ice Day?

Here is Kalin and Porter freezing! This was our one and only real snow day in Georgia so we had to take the kids out. We don't even have that much snow gear, so we only stayed out for a few minutes! I know you really can't say it's much of a snow day compared to Utah!



Kalin was excited to be able to play in the snow. Even though it stuck on the ground, it was more like ice or slush so we couldn't really play with it. I tried, but my hands were so cold I had to do the freezing dance!

Food Storage

A couple months ago Alan and I decided that we needed to start our food storage. It was the perfect goal for the new year. First of all we had to make the space and decided it would be perfect under our stairs. Alan wired and put in two lights and a switch, then built the shelves. I was just in awe as he progressed and he would just say it was nothing. Well the finished product was amazing, but he still didn't think it was as great as I thought! As we started to fill it with a little food at a time, Alan asked why I hadn't taken pictures and put them on the blog. So I think that proved that he was at least a little proud of his work! I surprised him with a roll of carpet that I found for $15, I was happy about that deal!! We have both really enjoyed it and feel happy to be doing something right.

This door is inside our coat closet downstairs. I wanted to make this into a little hideout/fort for the kids because they abosolutely love it, but whats more important right? Following the prophet or the kids entertainment? It's a pretty darn close line if you ask me!

We do have quite a bit of storage and just can't wait to fill it up! Too bad we can only spend so much each month on food storage. It makes us happy and we love this little space!

Kalin and Porter photoshoot